William Shakespeare 's ' The Big Sleep '

of this is the marriage scene. In the marriage scene of the play, Romeo and

Respondent has realized he is gay and has met a male companion who doesn’t reside with him presently, but someday might. Chastity testified that she feels weird around Respondent’s male companion. Psychologist, Dr.

However, on the very next page of the novel, our view of Marlowe is undermined. As the

“…Tendency to associate the receptive role with women, boys, and slaves and to construe adult men who display a desire to be penetrated as effeminate anomalies… Fully gendered men might be perfectly content to express desire for the men they ridicule…”

In chapter two, the narrator is attending a support group called Remaining Men Together. This support group is the only thing that provides comfort for the narrator as he suffers from insomnia. Remaining Men Together is a support group for men with testicular cancer. At the beginning of this chapter, his actions are almost anti-masculine as he interacts with his fellow members. He is literally pretending to have no balls, which are usually used as a man’s most prominent display of masculinity (Boon, and Alexander). He also shows deep emotion by crying into the breasts of his fellow male member, Bob.

It is important to note here, that a masculine defined by the rejection of the feminine- that is the masculine as an experience of subjectivity requiring

Through viewing scenes where Marlowe is beaten up and tied up by Mars' men, we come to realize the strength of Marlowe's integrity and will. Although he is put through much physical pain as well as the mental pain of witnessing horrific acts, he bites the bullet and commits himself completely to the tasks placed before him. Once again, he does not do his task for the small amounts of money, but he does it because he feels it is what he must do.

The idea that hypermasculinity will perpetually remain the more prominent and the more accepted archetype of masculinity in society is demonstrated in the short story “Sunday in the Park” by Bel Kaufman, through the use of characterisation and narrative voice. In this story, hypermasculinity, represented by a rude passer-by, overpowers and dominates over the intellectual side of masculinity, represented by Morton, the main protagonist’s husband. This was evidenced in Morton’s confrontational character dialogue. Through the quotes: “It wouldn’t have proved anything beyond the fact that he is bigger than I am.”, and “The only possible outcome would have been – what? … and for what? For justice? For truth?”, Morton confirms and acknowledges the fact that in society, no matter how much intel and sense a man may have, he, alongside with reason, will always be defeated by brute force and physical power.

or calling filthy compliments to passing women” (125). He shows the side of men who catcall women passing by them. He does not care what others around him think just that the women notice he is there. This shows his role in the novel as a flirt.

Porter even states that he had asked a young boy how he would feel in the event that he were to be told that he acted like a girl the boy responded by means of saying “that it would destroy him” (A Call To Men).

And in a little while he too, like Rusty Regan, would be sleeping the big sleep” (230-231). Since Marlowe failed to save Carmen once again, he compromises his chivalric code a second time so that she could find treatment, but more importantly, so that the General would never find out. Sparing the General of what could be potentially devastating news for him, reinforces the idea of how Chandler’s theme is dismantled by the detectives emotions. Marlowe displays the ultimate act of dishonesty, which is chivalry, by withholding information the General has asked for. Marlowe’s corruption

audience) that he will wait in a café until he finds her. The café he

In The Big Sleep, Chandler portrays Marlowe as the knight in shining armor. This establishes a motif of the stained glass window in General Stern wood’s home in the first chapter of the novel and is an appropriate motif in dictating Marlowe’s knightly role in the novel. The stained glass that is reflected in the novel places Marlowe in the position of the knight as it shows a knight who strives to reach a woman to set her free. The fact that he stares at the glass makes him develop the need to offer assistance. This motif is suitable because it sets the stage for what is to take place in the aftermath when Marlowe rescues Carmen. Secondly, Chandler tries to connect Marlowe with the knightly personality from the beginning of the novel that he intended to name his detective the modern knight and a brave man fighting for General Sternwood. He takes the role of the servant to Sternwood’s lord and therefore, in the knightly terms, it is sufficient to say that Marlowe is striving to find justice. Moreover, he is dedicated to rendering his services in the line of duty with much loyalty and honor despite the sexual and financial temptations that come his way. Like the ancient knights, Marlowe has deeply invested in his personal code of chivalry that contain among others, the need to overcome the sexual temptation of whatever magnitude that comes his way. Lastly, as a representation of the modern-day knight, Marlowe comes out in the novel as a tough detective and a brave individual

Johanna Smith gives many examples of Marlow’s contradictions that his ideological discourse of empire and gender work to mystify. In Heart of Darkness the women are often silenced. Smith points out the example of the laundress: the company’s chief accountant insists that she had to be taught to launder his clothes properly and that she had a strong disliking for the job. But you never truly hear her side of the story; Smith suggests “Marlow’s silencing of the laundress shows Marlow’s authority as the masculine narrator of his story, to conceal not only her story but also those of the other silent women in Heart of Darkness” (Smith 193). Marlow’s Way of self asserting his dominating silence of the women is a clear example of Marlow’s view towards women and is a key illustration of just how much Marlow believes he, as a male, is far more superior than a women.

England has always had a rich history of interesting cultural traditions but arguably none as prevalent as marriage. Marriage, the union of two people with emotional ideals and expectations, are brought on by many different factors that include: for love, for money, for climbing social status, escapism, survival, etc. In Jane Austen’s novels, she focuses on the importance of marriage in her world because she wanted to emphasize how marriage is the most important life event of a woman as this would determine her place in society. Persuasion shows readers good and bad examples of marriage: the amiable Crofts and other couples such as Sir Walter & Lady Elliot and the Smiths. Jane Austen uses the Crofts to support the importance of marriage